Battlefield 4 High Frequency Network Update Hitting PC and Next-Gen Consoles, Here’s How It Works

By now, you may have read that a brand new Battlefield 4 game update is hitting all platforms by the end of the week. But by taking a closer look at the patch notes, you’ll notice that it ain’t no ordinary update, at least on the PC and next-gen consoles.

You might have seen something like this on change logs for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4:

High Frequency Network update

Added High frequency “bubble” updating player movement, stance, rotation, damage and projectiles at a separate rate on foot and in vehicles

Added option to control client side update rate setting

According to recent write up from DICE, the tweaks mean players playing on these updated servers will notice a bit of an improvement in the game’s “netcode.”

“For the PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms, we are adding something we nicknamed the ‘High Frequency Bubble,'” the studio wrote.

“Within a certain radius of the player, we add the possibility to update the clients at a higher rate from the server. What this essentially means is that the server will update the client on what is happening more often than before. This normally results in a smoother, more ‘correct’ player experience.”

The option, however, is turned off by default, meaning you’ll have to manually select one of three different level settings; low, medium, or high, within the game’s options menu.

“Most players with a connection faster than 1Mbit should be fine using the HIGH setting,” the explanation continued. “If you experience any issues, lower or turn off the setting completely.”

On the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the update is being rolled out on all 48-player servers and on a small set of 64-player servers. But by the end of the day the update goes live, if the studio monitors a stable experience throughout, all servers will support the new improvements.

On PC, RSPs are responsible for enabling the new features at their discretion, though most are expected to do so as soon as possible.

Lastly, DICE insists that the studio is still hard at work bringing additional updates to network performance that didn’t make it in this time around.

“This is the first release to contain CTE-tested ‘Netcode’ fixes and improvements,” DICE continued. “We are still hard at work with additional improvements and tweaks to better our network experience that did not make this release.”

“We hope to utilize the Community Test Environment for future release to ensure quality and stability across all platforms. If you wish to take part in this testing, the CTE still has slots open. The current requirement is to own a PC copy of Battlefield 4 with a Premium membership to sign up at http://cte.battlelog.com.”

Be sure to check out the official comparison of the old and new servers in DICE’s latest Battlefield 4 video above.

Have you had a change to test out the new update? What’s your verdict? Is it a new-and-improved Battlefield experience?